Review by C.J. Bunce
The latest big-budget movie that has arrived at Netflix could have been on par with prior Netflix movies The Cloverfield Paradox or Bright. These are science fiction movies that have something to offer viewers, yet they probably would disappoint most if you paid to see them in the theater. As much as the marketing for these Netflix films is trying to convince subscribers these are the “real deal,” the new sci-fi movie Extinction brings the discussion home again. The Cloverfield Paradox had a broad, fairly well-known cast and significant production values. Bright relied on the charisma of star Will Smith with a solid performance from Joel Edgerton working through some hefty prosthetic make-up. So they had that minimum quality for first-out-of-the gate films for newcomer movie house Netflix. But despite the well-known genre star cast of Extinction, the latest Netflix sci-fi movie just isn’t strong enough. Remember the rack of B-movie sci-fi films at the old movie rental stores? Sadly, that’s where this one would have been filed.
Michael Peña plays the father of two girls in a future Earth. He’s having problems dealing with violent nightmares that are too real to merely be in his mind. His wife, played by Lizzy Caplan, and their friends, all think he’s crazy. When an invasion on par with War of the Worlds arrives in the middle of a dinner party, the father attempts to use the bits he can recall from the dreams to keep his kids and wife alive, and try to understand the menace approaching from the skies. Peña and Caplan are not given enough to do, not enough to make us want to cheer them on, as director Ben Young drags the audience through very carefully selected architectural layouts, platforms, pathways, futuristic buildings, all slowly panning and following people walking, doing mundane things that people do. For an entire hour nothing happens. Luke Cage’s Mike Colter plays Peña’s boss, and when hell breaks loose you get the feeling that roles once owned by Keith David can now be handed over to Colter, as Colter becomes that take-charge leader. But his scenes are few. The standout performance in the film is by British actor Lex Shrapnel (K:19: The Widowmaker, Captain America: The First Avenger) who steps in to assist the family after the first barrage. His performance brings some much-needed life, albeit too late. But the actors just aren’t enough to save the film.
You can’t blame the cast for this one. The slogging story doesn’t gain any momentum until the last 30 minutes, and then it must rely on a gotcha to even get viewers’ attention to stay around for the last act. The film probably suffers from a young director and an unsalvageable script by the Oscar-nominated writer of the similarly thin and derivative screenplay for Arrival, Eric Heisserer, among others. And it lacks a much-needed sci-fi or action flick musical score–the one thing that might have given some energy or passion to the first hour (The Nelson Brothers are listed as composers, but someone must have edited out most of their music). At only an hour and 35 minutes, the movie drags to feel like a full 2 hours, yet the thin story could have been told in a 20 minute episode of a show like Black Mirror. Worst of all, Extinction is devoid of any humor–an essential element of the best tense sci-fi action thrillers.
Peña has the acting chops for a good lead role, so hopefully this film won’t dissuade studios from continuing to give him great parts. The actor who shined in two Ant-Man movies just doesn’t get a chance here. I might have skipped reviewing Extinction altogether, but it does contain a cyborg story component some borg completists may not want to miss.
Is this the way Netflix films are going to go? For all the money spent so far purchasing films away from theater distribution, one would think at least one of the movies so far would be a recognized hit, a true A-list film audiences would be happy to pay theater ticket prices to see.
Not a sci-fi thriller you need to be in any hurry to see, Extinction is available for streaming now, only on Netflix.
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